Chapter 12 Summary

Dr. Schafer brings in a live patient to show at a conference, referring to him as "The Complete All American Deanxietized Man." The patient deteriorates on stage. A Southern doctor wants to kill the black attendants. The scene changes to a courtroom where the doctors are accused of killing a patient who had turned himself into a large black centipede. The lawyer frightens the jury by describing Dr. Schafer as a man who practices forcible lobotomy or, as he calls it, brain rape. The patient is identified as Clarence Cowie.

Chapter 12 Analysis

Whereas Dr. Benway's medical experiments have been presented in terms of humor and farce, the psychiatric conference lends an air or disturbing reality to this fantasy situation. Unlike Dr. Benway, who acts alone and is personally a very sinister character, Dr. Schafer seems idealistic, as though he really believes in what he is doing and...